Warhammer/Tactics/8th Edition/Wood Elves

Why Play Wood Elves

Wood Elves have been redone and almost completely rewritten. Everything has been turned on it's head and old Wood Elf players have to adapt to the new changes. However they have recently not only reclaimed the title of being the fastest army but being arguably the best shooting army too. Wood Elves appear to be of equal parts of light and dark outlooks. They are the middle ground for elves. This is shown by them having magic arrows which are keyed to wounding forces of order and destruction respectively and with their best wizards having access to High and Dark magic. Wood Elves still have access to their old free wood and can now also choose what kind it is.

Wood Elves are an army almost completely made up of trees, bowmen, or fast cavalry. They rely on speed, shooting and picking their fights. Wood elves still lack war machines but have in exchange a megaton of poisoned weaponry.

The name of their game is speed and maneuverability. By the end of turn 2 you can be behind the enemy lines, ready to unleash deadly co-ordinated flank charges, and against slower armies you can quite simply run circles around your enemies.

Though regarded as some of the best archers in the game, the wood elves' possible greatest strength is not in their shooting, but in their prowess fighting in forests. They combine the best of both High Elves & Dark Elves when defending areas of wood. They are formidable in combat but lack staying power. You will need to use your maneuverability to ensure that you win the first combat resolution. If the elves get bogged down, they will quickly end up on the losing side.

Lastly, they have the widest variety of spells to chose from amongst the three Elf factions.

The Wood Elves require perhaps the most skill and nuance to play well, but this directly translates into them also being one of the most rewarding armies to play. Plus they're bad ass vengeful guardians of the forest, so that's pretty cool too.

Be warned that they aren't a good starter army.

In short, play Wood Elves if you want to play an army that requires a lot of skill, strategy and tactical thought to do well. You can't rely on Armor nor Warmachines or crazy shenanigans. Only a quick aim, a steady eye and a hungry forest will aid you in Athel Loren.

(Also, it appears that the new Wood Elves Army Book have not been touched/written by Matt Ward. His name is nowhere to be found inside the new book. Unless I'm blind as almighty fuck, disregard any rage towards Matt Ward on this page until further conformation)(IIRC, GW decided to stop putting author's name in the book, most likely to preserve Watt Mard's tender feelings).

Army Rules

Wood Elves have four new army rules. They are the following:

Blessings of The Ancients: Any model with this special rule (IE your wizards) gets a +1 to all casting attempts if they are inside a forest.

The full list of models that have this rule is: Spellweaver, Spellsinger, Shadowdancers, Branchwraiths, Treeman Ancients, Durthu, and Drycha

Ambush of the Worldroots: You may place a single forest (of any type, you decide) anywhere on your half of the table. It must be placed before any units are deployed. It must be wholly within your half of the table. If it can't fit, move the other terrain pieces to make room. If it still can't fit, or you're in a scenario where you don't have a deployment zone, you don't get a forest.

See Army Composition & Tactics for ideas and recommendations on how to use this rule

Forest Spirit: Models with this rule has Forest Strider, Magical Attacks and Immune to Psychology special rule and a 6+ ward save. A weaker save, but no longer mundane like in the previous army book. Mounts do not get the ward save.

The full list of models that have this rule is: Unicorns, Great Stags, Dryads, Branchwraiths, Tree Kin, Treemen, Treeman Ancients, Forest Dragons, Durthu, Hounds of Orion, Drycha and Ceithin-Har

Forest Stalker: Models with this rule have the Forest Strider special rule. If at least half of a unit with this rule is inside a forest, it will be able to do the following:

• They may fire with one more rank. For the purpose of Volley Fire, this means a full three ranks may shoot, before you have to round down the following ranks.

• They may fight in close combat with one extra rank than normal, just like High Elves. This is cumulative with other similar effects.

• They may reroll to wound any rolls of 1 in close combat, just like Dark Elves. Their mounts, however, may not.
  • Basically, in terms of special rules, all your elves are worse than high elves and dark elves in the open, but equal to both of them combined while in forests.

(in truth Eternal Guard is more effective than Spearelves/Dreadspears, Glade Guard beats HE Archers and Glade Riders are Ellyrian Reavers on steroids; but they all cost much more. Model for model - WE are better. Point for point - WE are worse.)

The full list of models that have this rule is: Glade Lord, Glade Captain, Spellweaver, Spellsinger, Eternal Guard, Glade Guard, Deepwood Scouts, Glade Riders, Warhawk Riders, Wildwood Rangers, Wardancers, Shadowdancers, Sisters of the Thorn, Wild Riders, Waywatchers, Waystalker, Orion, Araloth and Naestra & Arahan

Unit Analysis

Lords & Heroes

Named Characters

Note: Under the current edition, named characters tend to be overpriced; you can pretty easily emulate most named characters from scratch and save yourself some points. That said, a few named characters do have abilities and wargear or wargear combos unique to them, so if you absolutely need to have them, go ahead. Just make sure you're really getting your points worth.

• Orion, The King of the Woods: Orion is what in general is refered to as a Glass Cannon: Incredibly expensive, requires a massive tax on your resources, can be incredibly powerful and yet is very fragile. Orion costs 600 points. He can also beat in almost anyone's face (9,8,8,6,5,5,9,5,10), comes with a Bolt Thrower and machine gun and is Unbreakable and Frenzy, regains a wound on a 6 at the start of each of your turns. Also comes with two War Beasts (for 20 pts) that share his Frenzy and Unbreakable rule. Here's the downside: He's only T5 with a 5+ Ward and MR 2, making him somewhat less durable than a Treeman, but more durable against spells. He's a Monster, so he has Thunderstomp too, however, he doesn't have the Large Target rule. He will drop like a fly to high volume S4 and above attacks. He also has Always Strikes First but will have trouble winning combats against large units (he'll probably tie or grab a minor win on round 1 and then start losing from then on, not that it matters so much anymore). Not great but has potential. He is basically a Greater Daemon with leafy clothing that gives units within 6" of him Devastating Charge (which his wild riders already have(Everyone. EEEVERYYYOOONEEE!!! of your WE units gets DC. Including mounts)) every turn. Charge him along with your Wild Riders into something. Anything. Then watch the mother hurt of ALL the People's Elbow decend upon your foe. Nothing bar the Dice Gods will stop you. That, or Phoenix Guard. Giggle like an Elf if you get to fight in a forest.

• Drycha: Orion is fighty, the Twins are shooty, Drycha is weird. She's cheap, at 255 points, but she doesn't come with nearly enough stuff to justify even this low entry point. For starters, she's a Level 2 caster and only has access to Lore of Shadows. While she's reasonably fighty (she gets +2 attacks per lost wound, no life shenanigans), T4, 3 wounds and only a 6+ Ward means she's easy to drop. She needs units with the Forest Spirit rule to be effective, but while her kinda ganky Deep Strike ability seems fun, you're only guaranteed d3+1 Woods max (IE the one you brought, sitting in your half of the table, and the acorn of eternity if you buy it) it's probably easier to just have them join her from the front. Don't bother.

• Araloth, Lord of Talsyn: This is Skaw the Falconer reborn. Sadly, Matt Ward clearly hates him and has not only changed his name but made him the only Wood Elf whose sole purpose is to be repurposed for conversions. 260pts for an Asrai Spear, a 4+, stubborn, unbreakable on his own, Glade Lord with a 6+ with a bird. At least 60pts overpriced. This bird is an auto hitting ranged attack which can be fired from combat which deals a str 4 hit, when it wounds has a 1/6 chance to cripple your foe. This model's only use is to troll Tomb Kings. Don't buy the model to play Wood Elves.

• Durthu: Once again a recycled character from the far distant past which is bad. At first his stats don't look bad; Ws 7, str 6, t6, w6, 6 attacks, frenzy, hatred. But he only has a 3+ armour with a 6++ ward save and is flammable. The greatest of the Treemen can die from a single flamming bolt thrower if it gets lucky, let alone a flaming cannonball. To add salt into the wound he is only a level 1 Lore of Beasts wizard, has a pretty hand weapon of no significance save fluff, and a 2d6 str 2 killing blow ranged attack (which is awesome since he has BS7). All of this is for 385 pts. If you have already ordered the Treemen kit make a basic Treeman instead and convert a Wraithknight/Wraithlord. If you really want to play with him, get him into combat, any combat, as quickly as you can and either get The Savage Beast of Horrors to make him eat Greater Daemons/Monsters or go with the default Wyssan's Wildform to make him do 7 WS7 (rerollable to hit) S7 attacks. 666 is the name of the Beast, but 777 is carved on the Tree.

• Naestra and Arahan, The Sisters of Twilight: Anyone who makes a 'Twins are hot' joke gets kicked out of Athel Loren. As for the girls, they can be hilarious. You don't only take them to win, you take them to troll. For 275 points you get the pair on the back of Gwindalor the Great Eagle and for a few 220 more can have them ride the forest dragon Ceithin-Har. Why you ever would take them on a dragon is a mystery since the eagle gives them more wounds and t4 thanks to it being monstrous cavalry, while also allowing them to reroll failed to hits. Their Dragon is 80pts cheaper than the glade lord's since gwindalor is clearly 80pts. They have the Always Strikes First, Forest Stalker, Conjoined Destiny, and Sisters of Twilight special rules. The Conjoined destiny rule means that they must always stay together if their mount dies and that if one of them dies then she is revived at the end of her phase with all of her wounds, while the Sisters of Twilight makes Naestra gain a +1 to wound forces of destruction units in combat and Arahan gain a +1 to wound forces of order in combat. They also have 2 special bows. Naestra has a str 5 d6 wound long bow which gives her mount a wound back if she wounds with it and Arahan has a bow which fires 2d6 str 1 poisoned shots. Between them have good shooting and survival thanks to their previous rules and weapons and stats: M5, WS 6, BS 6, str 4, t 3, w2, 3 attacks, i7 and Ld9. These compete badly with the waystalker, lvl 1 spellsinger and BSB in the Heroes section so chose wisely. Pitty you can't take these guys on foot though...
  • Alright, someone explain this to me. Since N&A are now MC on Big G, isn't the Conjoined Destiny rule quite worthless if you get shot? Since the three birds are counted as one model, have practically no saves AND you have to use the profile with the most wounds (which is 3 for Big G), how does this work? Are they able to survive a cannon ball to the face, or does the entire model die after 3 wounds?
    • This is a topic of quite a bit of debate since the rules aren't clear. Some would say that the entire model has three wounds but is healed after each phase. Others, such as myself, think that each sister has T4 and three wounds and are healed after each phase.

Generic Characters

Note: While named characters are judged against their generic counterparts, generic characters are examined based on their role in your army.

• Glade Lord: Generic combat lord, reasonably fighty but you'll pale in comparison to most other Lords. He can be kitted out in a variety of ways to be more fighty and can be given magic arrows which is a plus. He also dishes out a LD10 bubble and stubborn is always a good thing (He doesn't have the Stubborn rule). He also got an extra point of BS, probably to compensate for the loss of free moving and shooting. One new rule, The Arrow of Kurnous, lets him deal a auto str 3 hit on your opponent's general if they are within 36" of a character with the rule and in line of sight. If your foe has a caster lord as his general then I guess it will force him to deploy further back so not bad. Should not be your first Lord choice, but is by far not the worst.

• Spellweaver: This should be your first Lord choice. Level 4 at 220 points now, a variety of magic items to make her better, the only character who can take the Acorn of Eternity (technically, the Glade Lord can take it too, but naked combat lord suffers much more than naked mage lord) and most importantly, access to all rulebook lores and Dark and High Magic. Plus she can buy an Asrai Longbow for 5pts, which means that while she's hanging in the back with your Glade Guard, she can ping off the odd casualty herself, which is hilarious by the by. If you want a Lord choice, this is the one you should go for in (almost) every situation.

• Treeman Ancient: While Treemen are alright, Treemen Ancients fail for many reasons. First off, they're 290 points, don't get any more sprites, are lvl 2 life wizards only, have a 3+ 6++, can buy magic levels, can tree whack and have the kind of melee stats that make cherubs cry. Ws4, Str5, A3, I2. I guess old age shows? The best thing that can be said about them is probably that they are large targets with Ld 10.

• Glade Captain: This is the generic combat and battle standard bearer character for wood elves. And actually comparing him to other non-elf race's characters he isn't too bad. He can't buy anything armour-wise better than a shield and light armour but then he is a wood elf and he does have some decent combat stats and a bow to make up for it. Also he shares the Arrow of Kurnous with your general so you are not punished for taking a caster lord. Overall, while not having as much access to armour as the Dark Elf Master, this hero is a decent battle standard bearer, especially if you spend a few points to make him tougher.

• Shadow Dancer: Your Wardancer character. Worth consideration. For 100pts you get a ws8 s4 I8 a3 Always Strike Firsts combat character, with the amazing new wardancer dances. You have a 25 points magic weapon allowance and for 60pts become a lore of shadow wizard. I would keep this hero as plain as possible so that he can swap with your spellcasters if they have the lore of shadow. I would try to avoid making him a wizard. Sadly he doesn't have a way of moving any more quickly, without switching him across the battlefield and also doesn't have a better save than a 6++, unless you use one of the dances to give you a 3++ for 1 turn. Hit hard, hit fast.

• Waystalker: Is a hero version of the Waywatchers. He has bs 7, a bow and a 25pts weapons allowance, Don't bother taking the bow of loren on this hero. He has 1 attack and thus would only be able to fire 2 shots which he can do anyway. (However this does allow him to fire 2 shots that ignore armour - could be useful against those 1+ mounted heroes that tend to rely on their unit for their ward saves). Combining The Bow of Loren with The Savage Beast of Horrors will yield five ignore armour sniper shots which is an easy way to kill almost any BSB. Yes because buying a Magic Bow on the off chance that your Lore of Beasts Wizard both rolls that spell but is also within 12 Inches of your Scouting Hero is a good use of points. He also has the sniper rule and the choice whether to fire multiple shots or ignore armour. For this he is one the better priced heroes in the game.

• Spellsinger: One word. Amazing, when compared to the old wizards. 80pts for a normal lvl 1 wizard, +35 for a level 2, and 5 points for a bow. Now has access to all battle rule book lores but not to the Wood Elf specific lores. Shame. Take a dispel scroll and the lore of shadow or fire on this hero since their spells are the most effective at level 1/2.

• Branchwraith: The Branchwraith has 2 advantages: 1, she's fairly effective (WS6, S4, T4, I7, A3, 6+ Ward). 2, she's cheap. She is 75pts and a level 1 Lore of Life wizard. She's a cheap way of beefing up a Treekin or Dryad unit. It is also of note that if you're taking the Lore of Beasts for your casters, and you're running a Branchwraith, you can use 2 of the spells to buff her up to insane levels.

• Mounts:

• • Elven Steed: You know it, you love it. M9 Forest Strider, 20pts for lords, half that for heroes, and allows you to keep pace with all your cavalry. Take it for your mages to hide with your cavalry.

• • Great Stag: Really, why aren't you taking it? Better stats than it's closest cousin (IE the Eagle), you can still join units, you get a monstrous mount. One of the better mounts. [The reason not to take it, is that you don't get look-out-sir when joining units (because no units you can join are MC)]

• • Great Eagle: Worth taking to make your models more mobile for 50 pts. I wouldn't take it on every hero but on a lvl 1 mage without the scroll or the bsb it should be worth some consideration.

• • Unicorn: Unicorns are weird. They seem to be designed to deliver a Hero/Lord directly into combat, but it's only available to Casters and all it really does for them is make them a tiny bit more durable. It gives you movement 10 and still can skewer some models but is outshone by the elven steed easily.

• • Forest Dragon: It's a Dragon, what do you want? If it is a model that will be an amazing mount for your combat lord, with no points limit then it is good. Otherwise it is awful since the Glade lord, the only model that can mount it, is a rubbish combat character compared to other races Considering that this funky-looking dude with wings is a green, environmental-friendly lizard who smokes faeries, makes other stupefied and dumb when they inhale and can't dig it, and is a beast when he thinks you're going after his stash, he's actually just that little bit better than most Dragons. Also, there's only one poser who's cool enough to hang with him, and that's the Glade Lord (who, if you don't kit out for combat, really is a poser).

Core Units

• Dryads: Why Matt Ward! Dryads went from being overpowered to one of the weaker units in the game. For 11pts you get ws 4, s3, t4, A2, I5, Ld8, hatred, immune to psychology and a 6++ save. No armour save to mitigate the lower ward save (though they can now take it against magical attacks), and no more skirmisher. Like eternal guard, if you want to make a cheesy combat horde that is buffed by your lvl 4 wizard to be either to be tough or to hit hard, think again. They can't take anything other than a champion and cost 330 for 30 of them. While some people may still find some use for this, the Wood Elves' special and rare choices are better than their core and these points would be better spent there.

• Eternal Guard: 11 points WS 5 armour piercing, ASF, stubborn, elven spearmen, who can fight better in forests. They can also buy shields too and have a 5+ armour save. There is quite a mixed opinion on these between wood elf players. Personally, I feel that these cost too much for what they bring to the table, costing 270 points for 20 of them with shields and a full command squad and 390 for a horde. Some players believe their high WS and LD for a core choice and Stubborn can make them a good anchor. While they are on par with other units, these generally do not fit in with the Wood Elves' Hit and Run or Run and Shoot style of play. (They're an incredibly good anchor. Wood elves have always had the playstyle where you hold the enemy up with tough units and smash them in the flanks and rear with hard hitters. Stubborn infantry work perfectly for this.) However those who would like to play a Wood Elf infantry army will find these a solid if not great core choice that will do better in small units than most core choices. Take them if you have a specific use for them, otherwise try to fill up on better units. Still they are one of the better places to hide your wizards. Notice that unlike other spearmen they can still use their spears to fight in an extra rank on the charge.

• Glade Guard: Glade guard are of debatable worth. For 12 points you get a bs 4 model with no armour, an armour piercing long bow, the option to take full command and a magic standard worth 25 points. In forests they get to reroll ones to hit and wound ( << where did you get that from? Lol. They can only reroll 1's to wound and thats ONLY in close combat. The army book is very explicit in that point.)and can fire and fight in 1 extra rank. They also can buy any of the magic arrows. Considerering that Glade scouts for 1 point more gain scouts and skirmisher (both rules being incredibly good for the wood elves) I would only take as many glade guard as necessary to fill my core 25% requirement. It is up to you whether you chose to deploy them in multiple small units or in one horde, though generally msu is better since they will have more time to fire. Consider having a unit of 20 (2 ranks of 10 or 2 units of 10) with Trueflight Arrows. Hitting on 3+ across 30" with no shooting penalties whatsoever is actually quite satisfying. Expensive, but good fun.

• Glade Riders: Out of all the core choices, this is perhaps the only unit which has been priced correctly. For 19pts you get m9 fast cavalry with a asrai bow and asrai spear, who have to ambush, that can take any of the magic arrows. They can also take a magic banner worth up to 25pts which is neat. Generally you will want to take these in multiple small units that can come up behind the opponents and cause havoc. In a pinch they also make good warmachine hunters. A downside of this unit is that you can't really take a core full of them, since they can only move onto the board from turn 2 onwards.

Special Units

• Deep Wood Scouts: Don't let their fancy new name fool you. These are the Glade Scouts of the past, simply moved and renamed. For 1 point more than a Glade Guard they gain scout and skirmish and still keep the option to buy magic arrows. They can also buy a full command interestingly and can be taken in units as small as 5. Pity that you can only have so many special unit duplicates. Whenever you feel the urge to buy glade guard that don't contribute to your core allowance, choose Deepwood scouts instead. If anything they are one less unit you have to deploy at the start of a game before the roll off thanks to scout. As a side note; 12 of these armed with poisoned arrows will kill a warmachine each turn, on average, without a modifier.

• Sisters of the Thorn: The Wood Elf alternative to Dark Elf Warlocks. For 26 points they get a 4+, t 3, bs 5 and a poisoned javelin. They also count as a lvl 2 wizard with the Shield of Thorns and Curse of Anraheir spells, with a +1 to cast with equal to your rank bonus (maxing out at +3). Some people argue you can pull some crazy stunts with these Druidic Elven Nuns, but they are overpriced, have one awful spell and one good, situational spell and both will be difficult to cast with less than 3 dice (keep in mind, that the main use of Shield of Thorns is the Life attribute heal, with thorns themselves being just a little bonus. No Apotheosis, but not downright awful). The only thing that is actually good about them is that despite their massive cost, they are tough, they do look awesome and they are one of two cavalry units you can deploy your mounted characters in and that they don't have frenzy when compared to the Wild Riders. If you were to take mounted characters, then take a bodyguard of 5 Sisters of the Thorn, not only in case you lose your lvl 4 wizard to a mishap, but to improve your odds of surviving. They might have some uses but your points are probably better spent elsewhere.

• Treekin: Treekin are the younger brother of Treemen and not the force they once were. With the unit size limit removed, treekin can now be taken in hordes and with a 20 point reduction, they won't eat up as much of your points. They are the best of the forest spirits the wood elves have to offer but still are no longer a must-take. For 45 points you get S4, T5, 3 wounds, 3 attacks, Stomp, 4+ armor, 6++ Ward, and flammable. Beware they are vulnerable to Great Weapons, fire and high volumes of S4 attacks and have trouble overcoming large amounts of static combat res, so be careful to not send them into battles they can't win.

• Wardancer Troupe: Wardancers are still a reasonably good unit let down by a few flaws and a fairly high cost of entry. They cost 15 points a pop and with T3 and a 6+ Ward, they're still about as hard as tissue paper, but that's par for the course with Wood Elves and Skirmishers in general. They no longer gain +1 str on the charge and have 3 new dances.The first gives you armor piercing and killing blow, One gives you +1 attack, another gives you a 3++ and the final dance strips your foe of their rank bonues. What lets these guys down is the fact that because they're not Scouts, they have to start in your deployment zone, and M5 does not let them cross the board very quickly, as well as being unable to repeat any of their dances, the turn after it is used. You could use the moonstone but it would be a waste. If you want to you can take 5 as a harassment unit, but those 75 points can be far better spent elsewhere. It is also highly disappointing that taking a musician does not do more to help the unit of dancers. How did Matt Ward not see the connection between music and dancing?

• Warhawk Riders: You think your Glade Riders are fast? Think again. These guys are one of the best units in the Army Book, acting troubleshooters, since they can bring down War Machines like they're not there, punch out shooting units, ping wounds off lightly armored units and even help out in large combats (this is only for emergencies though). For 45 points you are getting fast flying monstrous cavalry with the Asrai Bows, W3, T4, Asrai spears, and killing blow on the charge. They deal out 1 str 4 AP with ASF as well as 2 str 4 AP killing blow hits and a stomp. Possibly, the best flying unit in the game with the exception of the frost phoenix. Take as many units of 3 as you can.

• Wild Riders of Kurnous: While they may be quite fragile for cavalry, Wild Riders of Kurnous move like an arrow and hit like a ton of bricks. Similes aside, they are the only fast cavalry in the game with the potential to get a 4+ 6++ and they eat monsters for breakfast. For 26 points you get a WS5, Str4, T3, model on stagback with light armour, which can buy a shield for 2 extra points, Full Command for 30, and a magic banner up to 50pts. In combat they dish out 3 str 5 AP, ASF and 1 str 4 attack on the charge, thanks to frenzy, asrai spears and a devstating charge (devastating charge is +1 attack not +1 strength). Conveniently they also have fear, which is always nice when facing something else with terror. I can see these becoming very popular, but remember they won't win every fight you send them into. Pick your victims with care. (With no FAQ yet and the way the rules are written their stags also gain +1A due to frenzy. A unit of 5 on the charge with a champion will cause an average of 12 wounds with -3 to armour and 4 Wounds with -1 to anything at T3 with less than WS5 - that unit is looking a lot less threatening with 15 less guys now isn't it. Also have a lot more staying power than most other cav, retaining 4 st 4 attacks per model until you lose frenzy. However still elves and therefore relatively easy to kill back). Ironically enough, they are no longer Forest Spirits, but their new models actually look like forest spirits, unlike their older models of regular elves.

• Wildwood Rangers New to the Wood Elf Army Book, 11 points per model gets you light armor, Eternal Guard stats, immune to psychology, and a great weapon. They are slightly more resilient than Gnoblars but do carry a Great Weapon. What makes these guys special is that if they're in combat with a unit that causes fear or terror they get an extra attack (good against Chaos, Undead and Ogres). On the upside they are better than Great Swordsmen, but are worse than almost every other race's Great Weapon elites (however also cheaper per model).

Rare Units

• Great Eagle: Reliable, cheap and versatile for 50pts. So long as these birds don't take a bolt or cannonball to the face, they can either redirect or bait charging enemy units into showing their flanks and/or can act as decent warmachine hunters. The only downside is that they can't be upgraded like High Elf eagles. Shame. Also, by some weird logic they haven't got the KB of Warhawks. Must have forgotten how to swoop?

• Treeman: The best that can be said about this unit is that it is priced correctly, but it is nowhere near the monster it was in the past. It is still quite tough with T6, W5 and a 3+ scaly skin and 6++ ward. It also has 5 attacks at WS6 S5 in combat with the option to swap them all for a tree whack which deals d6 armour ignoring wounds to a model if your enemy fails his initiative test (each wound must be saved seperately in case of ward saves). Also, Thunderstomp. It also appears to be that the strangle roots have become a better ranged attack. Str 5 d6+1 attacks may not seem like much but every little counts I guess. While the treeman is not amazing and necessary for most armies, sadly it is the best value monster we have.

• Waywatchers: This is potentially the best unit in the Army Book. For 20pts you get a BS5 skirmishing scouting archer who can chose whether to add the multiple fire 2 rule to his bow or to ignore armour saves with his shooting. They also come with 2 hand weapons too if you ever get into combat. Take a unit of 5 and annoy the living hell out of your opponents. It actually isn't a bad idea to fill your rare allocation up with these and eagles.

Building Your Army

Buying Your Army

The battalion set was good value. You could get a fairly decent army out of it. It is still mighty cool if you manage to find it at some backwater hobby shop (I even managed to get one with discount "'cos no one wanted it for long time" from, apparently, completely ignorant shop assistant). The battalion shared models with regular kits, so following old guidelines still apply. (these tips weren't made by me, so my additions are in italic, 'cos I don't wanna claim somepony else's honest work)

From the Glade Guard sprues, you can build Waywatchers. If you have some spare High Elf or Dark Elf spearmen/warriors, giving them a Glade Guard head can turn them into Eternal Guard. You get a ton of heads with the Glade Guard, so you're spoilt! Especially now, when they look like High Elves.

The Glade Riders you can build as Wild Riders with the spears. Or even Sisters of the Thorn.

For your Lords/Heroes choices, you can build them out of the sprues provided. You can make a mounted Glade Lord or Captain (even a BSB), as well as a Waystalker and, with a bit of imagination, a Spellweaver.

Otherwise, for the Spellweaver, the Dark Elves' plastic Sorceress is a good alternative if you don't want old/metal models.

You could make a Treeman with the LotR Ent as it's cheaper, but the two have different dimentions, so be warned. It is taller, but can fit on a 50x50mm base that you can buy seperatly.(and still be cheaper than a treeman.) Especially now, when Treemen are taller, slimmer and look more like -Men, than Tree-.

Dryad bits are awesome in making Wild Riders, Sisters of the Thorn and characters. Their back-branches make pretty cool saplings to add foresty clutter on elf bases.

If you want Dryads and Treemen (thoug they've been nerf-sawed) - you should hurry to grab the Guardians of the Deepwood box, which contains three Treemen and 36 Dryads - and IS ACTUALLY CHEAPER than cost of those models combined. Either GW are trying to be kinder, or their head manager made a typo. Most likely the latter. Hurry, it is limited edition and stuff.

Equiping Your Army

Asrai Bow: Just like an ordinary Longbow. 30" range, but now comes with AP.

Asrai Spear: Follows the same rules as regular spears, except for having AP. Also, in theory, Asrai Spears may be used in ranks of three (four in forest) even when you charge, since it doesn't have the little note stating that it can't be used on the go. Exploit this as fast as you can, since the first FAQ will likely fix this. (IIRC: The Fight in Extra Ranks rule as described in the main rulebook only applies in a round that the unit did not charge into combat)

Basicly, all Wood Elf spears and bows have AP. Because inch-thick armor is of little use when there's an arrow sticking out of your eye and a spear in your throat.

Magic Items

No more spites, no more kindreds. Matt Ward, after having given High Elves a meta changing item and Dark elves at least some decent ones, he decided to balance out his previous mistakes by not giving Wood Elves any good items. He even made sure to prevent broken combos this time. It's especially surprising as Wood Elves are reputed to be Matt Ward's favorite elf faction.

The Spirit Sword: 85 points for ignoring armour saves (as if Wood Elves didn't have enough of this already), and if you cause an unsaved wound on a character/champion/monster, you and your foe both take a leadership test. For each point you beat your opponent by, it causes a wound. If you lose the test nothing happens.I guess it is neat and will kill monsters like hell, but this weapon is overpriced and relies on you hitting/wounding your target. Rely on the rulebook's magic items instead.

Daith's Reaper: This weapon would be amazing for almost any race but Wood Elves. For 50pts you can reroll to hit and to wound and force your opponent to reroll successful armour saves. Considering you can only take this on a hero who is likely to get to hit rerolls from ASF and that 8th favours ward saves rather than armour saves, this weapon is only slightly better than useless. Buying great weapon or sword of +1 str wound be a far better/cheaper alternative.

The Bow of Loren: For 20 points you get a bow that fires your character's attacks +1 shots. You can use it on the Waystalker to get 2, armour ignoring, sniping shots or on the Glade Lord to fire 4 bs 7 shots. Might be worth it on the BSB, if you a planning to stick him in a unit of Glade Guards, but only if you have the points. The best that can be said about this bow is that it is properly priced. All other races ranged magic items aren't though...

Helm of the Hunt: For 20pts you get a dragon helm which instead of giving you a 2++ vs flaming attacks, gives you the devastating charge special rule and +1 ws on the charge. Cute I guess for Wood Elves but is it really worth it?

Acorns of Ages: This is the item that Wood Elves have been waiting for. For 100pts you get d3 forests in addition to the starting one, which all have to be the same type and are deployed like drop pods, since they scatter but can't land on other terrain. Lots of tactics are circulating around this item, Drycha/Moonstone of Hidden Ways for teleporting units or almost deep striking treemen. My advice is simply not to bother, and make use of the forests wood elves would otherwise not have. It is an Enchanted item which means you can give it to a Glade Lord as well as a Spell Weaver.

Moonstone of Hidden Ways: This item's potential power is immense, while it's actual usefulness is varied. For 40pts you can teleport your unit at the end of a movement phase, from one forest to another. The only restriction on what can be teleported is whether it can fit wholly inside the forest. The "forest walking" unit can't be placed in another forest that is too small and counts as having marched. While interesting this item makes you a sitting duck for 1 turn and either relies on the luck of the terrain deployment table or the Acorns of Ages. Buy another gimmick.

Hail of the Doom Arrow: If only this item was 5 points cheaper so Waystalkers could take it (This does prevent the abuse from being able to hail of the doom arrow snipe combo - almost guaranteed dead wizard. Seems like it could have been fixed better with a 'cannot be used in conjunction with the sniper special rule' as opposed to just making it too expensive to take). For 30pts, you get a 1 use str 4 armour piercing arrow that causes 3d6 hits. Some people swear by these things since they can instantly mince lightly armoured units, but personally I feel that it is 30 points better spent on a 5++ Ward save. Still it is the best magic item Wood Elves have.

Calaingor's Stave: Such a depressing item. For 20 points you get the privilege of swapping a spell for Tree Singing. Tree Singing is cast on a 8+ now and can either move an empty forest d6+1 inches, which is more than the forest moves by being accidentally bumped. If the forest is partially occupied, then instead you can deal 2d6 str 4 hits on an enemy unit that is at least partially within the forest. You can improve the spell so that, when cast on a 16+ it affects all forests within 12". If the spell could be cast more than once, was given as an additional spell, had a lore attribute, could be cast on all forests on the board instead of those within 12", cast on a 4+, to name a multitude of reasons, then it would be worth taking. Otherwise, unless you wish to move the destination forest of the moonstone of hidden way's unit or Drycha's helpers, it is the worst magic item in the game.

The Banner of the Eternal Queen: A banner which for 100pts provides Magic Resistance 3 and for 1 turn the ability to be unbreakable. No thanks. The traditional overpriced banner does not fail to disappoint me.

The Banner of the Hunter King: Another banner which gives to it's unit vanguard and, that allows you to reroll the first failed charge of the game for 75pts. Dwarfs get these rules for 35pts and 15pts respectively. Also almost everything that can take this banner has Vanguard already. Competes with Calaingor's Staff for being the worst magic item ever.

Enchanted Arrows

(Note, all arrows have AP and volleyfire, 30 inch range). All of these are available to Glade Guard, Scouts, Glade Riders, Glade Lords and Glade Captains. They replace regular bows wielded by models and count as magical attacks.

Arcane Bodkins: 5 pts per model, confers ap -3 instead of normal armour piercing. Expensive for what they do. I prefer to do more wounds than reduce armour saves but these arrows kill cavalry like nobody's business. All the same, if your plan is to screw over enemy armor, just use Waywatchers instead.

Hagbane Tips: 3 points per model, confers poison attacks. Amazing. This will probably be your go-to magic arrow, since wood elves have troubles vs monsters. It is nice to have skink-like firepower on the move at 30"

Trueflight Arrows: 3 points per model, confers no penalty to shooting whatever you do. This is probably going to be the second most used arrow. Best taken on your Glade Guard as they will suffer the most penalties. These should be your first choice against Skaven and their shenanigans.

• These arrows are generally going to get less mileage than Hagbanes, to show this, let's use an example of 12 Glade Guard; Without having moved, firing at long range against a toughness 3 opponent. If they are armed with Trueflight arrows, they will get 8 hits and 4 wounds on average. With Hagbanes, they will hit 6 times, 2 of which will be poisoned, and wound a further 2 times. Meaning in this scenario both arrows are of equal effectiveness, so basically, given that the effectiveness of the arrows will shift in favour of hagbanes against higher toughness opponents, the only reason you should ever take Trueflights are if you're planning on moving around ALOT or if you know your'e facing an army who can abuse negative modifiers eg. cover or spells.

Moonstone Arrows: 4 points, confers flaming and +1 to wound versus Forces of Order. Great against warmachines, which almost all Forces of Order have.

Starfire Arrows: 4 points per model confers flaming and +1 to wound versus Forces of Destruction. Great against monsters and repeater bolt throwers. The better choice of the "...fire Arrows" duo as almost everything with Regen in the game is from a Forces of Destruction army. If you buy a unit of 10-12 this in stead of the flaming banner you can make ok monster hunters out of them.

Swiftshiver Shards: 4 points per model confers multiple shot, making your Glade Guards into Dark Elf repeater crossbowmen. Interesting but Waywatchers have this basic and do this better than any of the other unit. Save your points for other arrows.

Magic

Wood elves have gone from being, magically, the least diverse race with the least choice of all when it came to spells, to the most. All Wood Elf wizards now have access to ALL rulebook lores, which is amazing for them, and the Spell Weavers are the only models who now have access to the new Wood Elf specific lores, the Lore of High and Dark Magic. Yes both are directly stolen from the High and Dark elves (this is confirmed by the fluff) but have different lore attributes (this can be seen as good and bad). As such a Spellweaver can now choose 10 lores with a chance to pick 3/4 of 72 different spells.

The following overviews are in my eyes, in the order of importance. However that is up to debate and which most important is dependant on your list and situation.

Lore of Life

This Lore is really good for Wood Elves as you can restore wounds on your best units (ie:Warhawks and arguably Treekin) every time you cast a spell and it fixes the universal elf problem; being squishy. It provides you with a way how to give your Glade Guard saves, revive your most expensive units, kill your foes with a characteristic test, and a safety net for you, if you miscast. It is best taken on a lvl 3/4.

Lore of Shadow

The Lore of Shadow allows you to switch and save the most important characters while debuffing your foes. It helps your shooting by reducing your opponent's toughness and weakens them in combat by reducing their strength, weapon skill and intiative. By using Melkoth's Mysitifying Miasma you can slow down your foes, giving you more time to fire. It can make one your heroes fly but that isn't as useful as the others. It also comes with a semi-cannon ball and an blast initiative test spell which can destroy your enemy's tougher units. Finally it comes with a buff that allows you to shred through tougher units. It is useful since it works on any wizard of any level. The Lore attribute can be good but in a wood elves army is unlikely to be very effective in most army builds (You should be picking your fights and it's unlikely your characters are going to be anywhere other than exactly where you want them).

Lore of High Magic

This Lore is really quite neat. It has a wide variety of cheap to cast spells which give you a better shorter ranged fireball as a signature spell, a buff the complete opposite of the MMM importantly buffing your BS, a spell which dispels all effects (very useful against any foe dependant on magic) as a signature spell, a small blast, the ability to redeploy one of your units 10", to dismantle magic items and to deal a str 4 hit to all your foes in one unit. Matt Ward has also given a good lore attribute which stacks well with it's multiple low level spells. Every time you successfully cast a spell you gain a counter. If you suffer an unsaved wound, then the counter nullifies the wound. Great if you are hiding your General anywhere, but especially with the sisters of the Thorn. I feel it is very much like a proactive version of the lore of life, preventing damage rather than repairing it.

Lore of Metal

The Lore of Metal is mostly aimed at helping armies like the wood elves deal with heavily armoured foes. It can debuff your foe's armour, pick off standards, has a 5+ pit of shades which causes stupidity and can give your troops a 5+ scaly skin save and +1 to hit (almost everything has armour piercing already). It isn't bad but the other lores often help more.

Lore of Beasts

The Lore of Beasts lets you run train on things that you normally would not be able to run train on. Arguably, it has the best signature spell of the 8 base Lores. +1 Strength and Toughness make even glade guard dangerous in hand to hand. They are still rubbish, but they may hurt someone. If applied to Treekin, they will each have Dragon-like stats, and go from being 'decent' to 'good' super fast. It really shines on wild riders and warhawks, though, since it takes them from squishy, to survivable, and from dangerous to just death. High initiative Strength 5 will scare anything. It will also give you the amber spear which helps you deal with monsters and a couple of character buffing spells which can help your shadow dancers. Curse of Anraheir has great synergy with all the forests you might bring along (Acorn of Ages). Making a third of an enemy unit that follows you into a forest die is pretty great.

Lore of Heavens

The Lore of Heavens is a mixed bag.You get 2 of the spells with the largest areas of affect and potentially the biggest damage output in the game, 1 high strength magic missile, 2 debuffs which synergise well, preventing your foe from ever getting poisoned or killling blow attacks or -1 to hit and a 50/50 chance to put warmachines out of commision for one turn, a buff which makes you reroll all ones (which Wood Elves do in woods anyway) and a very situational knock back spell. Also it's lore attribute turns all of it's spells into lvl 1 fireballs when cast at something with wings. Not bad but it is often outshone.

Lore of Death

The Lore of Death is good for situations when the enemy has some tough (literally) Lord or Hero, who laughs off your S3 sniping shots and has a chance to wreck your game - like a T4 Grey Seer with the Dreaded 13th ratifying your MSUs. Doom and Darkness also has nice synergy with Fear of your Dryads and Wild Riders, while Soulblight does a fine job equalizing some S4 T4 brutes with your fragile elves. Just a pity you can't cast Aspect of the Dreadnight on enemies (to exploit Wildwood Rangers' special rule).

Lore of Fire

The Lore of Fire is best for level 1s since it comes with the best guaranteed magic missile in the game. If you lose your lvl 4 then go and pump all your dice into a super fireball. Beyond that the only spell of great use for wood elves is the Flaming Sword of Rhuin, which you sadly can't guarantee.

Lore of Dark Magic

Pity you can't take it on a level 1. On a level 4 it isn't bad but is beaten by almost all the other lores.

• Power of Darkness:
  • Augment. While it does give your unit a much needed strength bonus and extra power dice it will eventually wear you down ( you take a wound with no armor saves if you roll a 3 for power dice) unless you protect yourself with a decent ward save. Often, you'd be best served not getting bogged down in combat.

• Doombolt:
  • Magic Missile. Always take it. It gives you a much needed high strength shooting attack.

• Chillwind:
  • Magic Missile. Is an easy spell to cast, is good against low toughness units and will help you against other shooting armies.

• Word of Pain:
  • Hex. Good against shooting/high WS armies that seek to match you prowess. The boosted version will save a lot of your elves in combat, especially since you don't have much, if any, armor.

• Bladewind:
  • Direct Damage. Is a good choice for big blocks of infantry, like the always pleasant Slavebus or Zombietrain or even some tougher units.

• Shroud of Despair:
  • Hex. Simply fantastic when you get into combat. No Inspiring Presence and no Hold Your Ground! for you enemies. This will make breaking enemies easier, which is good, because you don't wanna hang around for Round 2.

• Soul Stealer:
  • Direct Damage. Once again, great against big horde units/busses/trains. If you get this off, place the 3" template anywhere of the wizard within 18". You can go nuts with Power of Darkness and never worry about it, if it lands right.

• Arnzipal's Black Horror:
  • Magical Vortex. Oh baby. This thing is crazy. Like warpstone-laced cocaine. No wonder Ariel got hooked on this Dark Magic stuff... Anyway, should you get this off, pop it down and sing "Snitches's gonna die/This bitch is gonna fly/My wizard's rollin' high/Or she's gonna fry". It will then travel anywhere between 6"-40" in the form of a 3" template in a straight line (of your choice) depending on your wizards magic lvl and how much you roll on the arty dice. Everything hit must pass a strength check or die (ward save allowed). As with arty rolls, should you misfire, place it on top of your wizard and scatter it D6. It Remains in Play. Every turn, it jollies around randomly, spreading more laughter and happy thoughts with another arty roll. Misfire and it will stop working. Boost it and you get to use the large 5 incher, then pray to Isha that you don't screw up. Not as powerful as the Lore of Death version, but still good fun.

It's lore attribute is best likend to that of the Lore of Fire. Everytime you cast it on an enemy unit, it creates a vengeance counter (on the unit) which activates when damage is next applied through a spell to that unit. It causes d3 extra hits when it does so, for each counter on the unit. If you can take 2 lv 3/4 mages then this is a good secondary lore but beyond the Storm of Magic I doubt it will see much use. Try it out and see how useful it is to you.

Lore of Light

Against other WE players or, indeed, other Elf armies (and Undead/Daemons), this lore should be considered. Against most other armies, it sadly won't be of much use, as many of the other lores gives you better options. High strength flaming attacks, superb WS, exellent skirmisher trolling and M10 A4 Tree Kin is nice when playing the mirror match, but again, other lores give you a better selection of choices all-round.

Army Composition & Tactics

Build your tactics around your army. Basically Wood Elves need to ambush, pick their fights carefully, and throw multiple units into every combat they fight if they want to win. One unit on its own is not going anywhere unless it's Wild Riders vs a monster or if the unit is charging the enemies flanks or rear.

Currently, there are four main methods of building your army:

• A) Shooty army.
  • Don't get charged and keep on shooting. Circle around your foes, slow them down, and don't be afraid to sacrifice a unit if it saves your army.

• B) Fast combat army.
  • You could take an entire horse army. Very hard to use but pays great dividends. This army should always get to choose when and how it fights. Abuse the Wood Elves' superior movement to ridiculous levels.

• C) Infantry army.
  • Units of 5 or 6 Treekin have high Strength and Toughness, multiple wounds, good weapons skill and nearly 20 attacks per turn. Spearelf units are expensive but good for holding characters and is now stubborn even without a glade captain or lord. The enemy will need to kill everyone, so they are not going anywhere for some turns. However this army will die to anything stronger than a stiff breeze.

• D) Hybrid army.
  • A mix of any of the above.

Ambush of the Worldroots

To once again clarify, for future reference, the precise wording of the rule is "This forest is not mysterious terrain - declare it's type when you place it"

With "Mysterious" being a fancy word for "Random type", no?

• The most obvious tactic for this is to chuck one in the middle of your Glade Guard. However, for an interesting option, to cater towards more close combat orientated armies, you can stick it between your big unit of Eternal Guard, etc and the most likely enemy deployment to mitigate a lot of return shots and hopefully force a fight in the woods. Or simply hamper the enemies movement towards you, forcing them to trudge through the forest or having to split around it

• Pick a Venom Thicket since your entire army (except Eagles) ignores Forest DT tests, but do notice that a Venom Thicket won't grant Poisoned Attacks to your shooting attacks. The rulebook specifically states that Poisoned Attacks from Venom Thicket only applies to close combat attacks.

• Abyssal Wood imposes no penalties and serves as a perfect place to station your Glade Guard, Eternal Guard or Wildwood Rangers. Fear will grant them an edge in melee (which all WE badly need), and luring an enemy far enough into the Abyssal Wood will give it Fear as well - directly empowering your Rangers when hacking them. An Abyssal Wood with a bunch of Rangers stationed in it (with just enough space to accommodate an enemy unit) can be quite effective in a chokepoint.

• The other woods should NEVER be considered for two reasons:
  • 1) Strider only stops Dangerous Terrain checks, so Abyssal Wood/Venom Thicket are the only forests you can survive in while still doing damage to your enemies.
  • 2) You don't really want to use your guaranteed forest as barrier. You want to stand in it and gain bonuses distilled from HElf and DElf tears.

Tips

Many of these tips might seem redundant, but one extra reminder is better than forgetting a small detail that might help you later

• With the introduction of Enchanted Arrows and generally improved shooting units, Wood Elves favour a mix between Shooting and Fast Combat armies. As a general rule, avoid putting any more points into core than neccesary, always take a lvl 4 wizard, 2 Great Eagles, some Waywatchers, and try to avoid any foot based combat unit. This is not to say that you should never take footsloggers, but most of your units will have neither the toughness nor the saves to match other armies.

• Most, if not all of your army has M5 or more. Use this maneuverability to it's utmost to ensure that you stay alive and pick your fights with care.

• Remember that units fighting in forests lose their steadfast rule (this goes for your units as well). This could make a difference when fighting big blocks of Skavenslaves or other similar units that relies on keeping your units tied up until help arrives. Eternal Guards (Stubborn LD9) can shine here, even in relative few numbers.

• Beware of Monsters or units with high toughness! Unless you have units with Poisoned Attacks, Wild Riders (S5 on the charge) or Wildwood Rangers, it's gonna be difficult to wound most of the time when you're in combat. Almost every other Army has access to Warmachines to pick off your Treemen/Treeman Ancients, but you won't have the same luxury.

• DISTRACTION FAERIE: You need at least one of these. Either a Treeman, a Forest Dragon or some Waywatcher. Why? Because you need something that is gonna rob your enemy of his reason and make all his Empire/Dwarf/Skaven/Bolt Throwers/Leadbelchers warmachines go "Huuuurr... Dat's a purdy unit yoo's got there mate... Be a real shame if sumfink hap'n to it, roight?, so that the rest of your army survives unharassed and gets into position.
  • Bear in mind that against dwarfs this will be less of a distraction and more 220 points of free victory points for their free flaming fucking bolt thrower

• What's that? Having trouble with High Elves and their Banner of The World Dragon on a beefy cav unit you say? What you're actually saying is that you don't have enough Waywatchers in your army, am I right?

• Seriously consider the Recipe for Success
  • You will need the following:
    • 1) 5 Wild Riders
    • 2) 1 Forest
    • 3) Flank Charge on the Enemy

Mix it all together, add command, a War Banner if you like it thick and put it in the oven for about 1 Magic and 1 Shooting Phase at 200 and voila: 16 Fear-causing ASF S5 AP attacks (reroll 1s to wound) + 10 S4 attacks with no enemy parry saves, supporting attacks or steadfast. The cost? 160-195 pts.

Note

This page is still under maintenance with the new wood elf release. It is incomplete. While the public can feel free to update this article, it should be noted that any and all ideas will be considered and debated on their merits, and nothing will be deleted out of hand.